Just Another Rebel?
by StarWarrior72
Summary: Oh, how I've come to hate this little box... Let's see, it's another alternate ending to Return of the Jedi, because I honestly feel that it hasn't been done enough. And that's all I'm going to tell you. Oneshot. Really, I took the story far more seriously than I'm taking this summary.


I supposed my son was going to be stubborn about this. His statement that he believed I was truly dead didn't fool me. Luke wouldn't give up that quickly, I was sure. I walked after him onto the shuttle.

I found him, chained to a chair, which was bolted and welded to the floor. He was staring across the room at some harmless items which had been left on the floor. His right arm was raised as much as he could, and he was using the Force to balance the things on top of one another.

When he became aware of me, the things dropped. He looked at me in confusion, and I took a seat across from him. He tilted his head to the side slightly, as though testing another angle to see if I looked more human that way. The blue in his eyes swirled, and I did my best to meet his gaze.

"Hello, Father."

"Hello, Luke." I chose to use his name, not to call him my son, as that had previously distressed him, and I wasn't sure he was over that yet.

"I suppose you're here to try to convince me to turn to the Dark Side?" Luke asked innocently.

"No." I told him.

He fell silent, continuing to study my mask. After a few moments, he realized that I wasn't going to speak any more, and returned to levitating the objects behind me.

Inwardly, I sighed. This Luke would either be dead, or totally lost in a Sith in less than twenty four hours. I watched as he shifted his attention to some new things on the table in front of him. Then as he balanced them, like a small child building a tower. I didn't want to do this to him. I wanted to take this innocent child home, and keep him safe from the galaxy, which would destroy him in the end.

Luke began to kick at the chair's legs gently. He sneezed. Then he smiled apologetically at me and bent to rub his nose against his hand. He was just starting to straighten up when he sneezed again. That time, he didn't bother to rub at his nose; he just waited for the third and final sneeze to come.

He returned to studying me, and I tried to make his stare feel hostile. I should be scared of this boy, I should hate him.

After a few minutes that seemed like eternity, the ship docked. I used the Force to unlock my son from the chair, and he stood. He walked beside me as I led him out of the ship. We reached the turbolift, and he tripped.

There might have been something in his way, but I don't think there was. As I caught his arm to keep him from falling, unable to use his arms to balance, I glanced back over my shoulder. There was nothing there to trip on. I hadn't thought there would be. In fact, I had felt right from the moment it happened that he had tripped over his own two feet.

I trusted that he would be as lethal as ever in battle, but in that moment, I didn't see a warrior, I saw a growing child who had was still trying to get used to his most recent shoe size. Looking down at his feet, as surreptitiously as possible, I saw that they did seem a little large for his body. It is hard, however, to look at someone's feet without them noticing, especially if they happen to be head and shoulders shorter than you are. Needless to say, Luke noticed.

He gave me a strange look, but didn't say anything. His hands were fidgeting constantly. I wanted to take his hands and make him feel better, but I couldn't.

We stepped into the turbolift, and I felt Luke shivering next to me. He was afraid. He was just a little boy, and he was desperately afraid of what I, his father, was taking him to.

The instant the door closed, I couldn't hold back another second. No one could see us in here; we were safe to speak openly. I reached out and pulled him against my chest. He shook harder and another tear trickled down his cheek.

"Father…" He wrapped his arms around my neck, and I held him.

It wasn't enough to make up for what he was going to be subjected to, I knew, but it was the best I could do. His little body was snuggled close against me, and he had stopped moving mostly, just shivering now. I rubbed his back, and felt knots there. It was one of those details that make life real. Luke wasn't just a person when I was there; he had done other things too. He had exercised himself to exhaustion recently, I was sure.

Moving must have been hurting him, but he clung to me desperately. I was glad that it was a long ride up to the Emperor. I decided to make it a bit longer, and stalled the motor. In my arms, Luke looked up at me for a moment and I nodded.

He sank to the floor at my feet, "Thank you, Father."

I sat down beside him and he looked at me again, his eyes wide and frightened. "I don't want to go. Please, don't take me to the Emperor. Please." Tears raced down his cheeks and I drew him close again.

"I'm sorry, Luke. I'm so sorry."

Luke didn't speak. Instead, he placed his head on my chest. His blonde hair was mussed as though he had just been flying a landspeeder. I tried to flatten it down a bit, but it was useless. My son clung to me a bit tighter, and I realized that he was still shivering, poor boy. I wrapped my cape around him.

Luke was crushingly human. He was just a boy. Just a child. Just my child. But not just. He was a child, and he was a human, and he was my child, and he was so much more than that. He was a person, a person who needed to feel safe, and loved. I wanted to be there for him. I hoped that he would be able to take comfort in these few moments of safety and protection.

"Do you want this, Father?"

"No."

"Then why are we doing this?"

"Because we must." I closed my eyes and traced his small features with one finger.

"But why, Father? Why can't we just forget about all this and go home? Why can't we be normal?"

"We're not normal, Luke. No one is normal. This is who we are, and what we do."

"It doesn't have to be though! We could both be happy not fighting one another, couldn't we?" Luke's hands gripped my shoulders, and I imagined I could feel their pressure, even though there were layers of armour and cloth between us.

"Luke, I'm a monster. You should never have come. You should have stayed with your friends, safe."

"Safe and lonely, to live knowing that my father doesn't want me," Luke said simply. He drew away from me a bit.

"I do want you. I swear, I do. I just don't want you hurt. And I know that I would hurt you."

"Well, I'm glad you made the decision to let the emperor harm me instead." Luke said, momentarily reminding me of Ahsoka.

I didn't really know what to say to that, so I just held him a bit tighter. He lay back against me just as the turbolift suddenly dropped for a moment.

"Did you do that?"

"No." I stood up, taking him in my arms so as to protect him if we were to suddenly go into free fall. I would be broken, but with any luck, I would be able to save my son from the worst of the impact.

"What's happening, Father?" Luke asked.

"I have no idea." I told him honestly. Then the turbolift started up again and I put my son back down on his feet. "I suppose that was just a hiccup in the system. I'm sorry, Luke."

"I don't want to go, Father."

"I know. I'm sorry. I'm glad we spoke."

"I love you."

"I love you too, my son." I promised.

The turbolift jerked to a halt and Luke stumbled again. He quickly regained his balance and started out of the turbolift. I followed him and quickly overtook him. I could feel him shivering beside me again, but he was hiding it better that time, and I knew that the emperor wouldn't even know that he was.

I felt my son's fear and knew that I should be comforting him. I held back, though, and even managed to fight my son in my master's defence. During our duel, Luke surprised me by letting slip that Leia was my daughter.

That left me understandably distracted. In fact, as I obsessed over having tortured my baby girl, Luke managed to cut off my right hand, and pin me. I was sure I was going to die, at my innocent son's hands, when he threw his saber aside. I cursed him inwardly.

I could die, but not Luke. Not him. Not when he had his sister to go back to. The emperor, of course, couldn't have cared less about Luke. He simply held out his hands and sent bolts of agonising blue energy through my baby. Luke instantly fell to the floor and started twitching, crying out helplessly.

Every fiber of my being shared the poor boy's pain. I longed to rush to his side and take the electricity for him, but I knew that I would simply be killed, and then the emperor would kill Luke. He would eventually find out about Leia too, and it would really be over.

Instead, I managed to drag myself up beside my master. Eventually, I stood, and looked at my dying son. One of his arms twitched pathetically. I longed to turn away and pretend that this wasn't happening, or take action, but I knew that I had to wait until I was stronger to make a move to save my son.

Luke's arm moved again, and he reached out to me, moaning softly, "Father. Father, please!"

My heart broke. I threw my master from the gantry with the Force, glad to see him fall, and not catch himself. Then I ran to my son's side. Luke shook violently and I took him in my arms, trying to protect him from the all-too-recent memories of such pain.

"Father…"

"I know, Luke. I know. It's going to be all right now, do you hear me?"

Luke nodded weakly and I held him closer for a moment. Then the station rocked suddenly. Luke nearly slipped from my arms and followed Palpatine into the abyss beyond the bridge. I clung to him more tightly. Then I stood, repositioning him so that he could use his remaining strength to hold on to me if he wanted to. His arms moved around my neck, but it seemed to serve little purpose other than comfort.

I started to walk out of the station, carrying my son back to the hanger, but the ship shook again. I broke into a run. In my arms, Luke moaned softly. I raced into a shuttle, only to find someone else already there.

"_Ahsoka?_" How could she be here? I'd lost her years ago! Then again, that seems to be becoming a theme in my life.

Ahsoka looked up at me in surprise, "Vader?"

"I'm glad to see you too, Snips. Listen, take Luke, please. I'll get us out of here." Calling her 'Snips' would, I hoped, save me from needing to explain everything.

She stared at me in surprise, "Skyguy?"

"Yes, just take my son." I pressed my wounded son into her arms, and she moved from the captain's chair, into the co-pilots'.

As I sent us into space, Ahsoka looked down at Luke's features. Luke's eyes had closed, and his chest moved slowly. He was asleep.

"Will he be all right?"

"I certainly hope so. He went through a lot just now."

"I don't doubt it."

"How did you get here?"

"Palpatine has a nasty habit of gloating, you know that?" She smiled slightly, "And there is no one he'd rather gloat at than a prisoner. Your arrival with your son saved me from a terrible beating. In fact, he just shoved me into a cell and left. I was able to slip through the bars."

Her body was tiny. She was emaciated and it seemed that some of her ribs had been broken.

"Are you all right, Ahsoka?" I asked.

"Not really. But I am alive, and we have just escaped the Empire. At least, I hope we have." Ahsoka rubbed at one of her more broken-seeming ribs and flinched.

"After what they've done to you? No. I'm taking both of you home. You'll be safe with me." I brought the ship back out of hyperspace and Ahsoka stared out the viewport at my current homeworld.

"Is it just me or does that place look dead?"

"It is pretty much dead. Lots of acid rain," I explained. Vjun was basically a huge grey orb.

I brought the ship in for a landing and took Luke from Ahsoka's arms. She stood up and stumbled instantly. I put one arm around her and led her into the house. The moment we reached somewhere she could sit down, she fell into it. I laid Luke on the other sofa, and sat next to him. He slept on, oblivious.

"He's yours?" Ahsoka asked.

"Yes." I put one hand under his head and lifted it, so that I could slip a pillow underneath.

"By birth?" She asked, dragging herself to her feet and coming over to me.

"Yes, mine and Padmé's. Isn't he sweet?" I couldn't help wanting someone else to confirm my feelings. He was my son, after all, and my perception could have been terribly biased.

"He's beautiful," Ahsoka assured me.

I tried to turn away from my obsession over Luke's safety and comfort. "What would you like to eat?"

Ahsoka's stomach growled loudly, "Anything, anything at all."

I stood and headed to the kitchen, seeing Ahsoka bend over my son. When I rejoined her, she was still studying Luke's face. I passed her the food and she took it eagerly. At the smell, Luke stirred slightly. I watched as his eyes opened and he blinked up at Ahsoka. Then his head turned slowly to me, and he smiled.

"Father."

"I'm here, Luke." I assured him, taking his hand in mine. He smiled innocently.

"You're going to stay with me, aren't you?" He asked in concern.

"Yes, I intend to stay here."

"Who is she?" He indicated Ahsoka with his free hand.

"This is Ahsoka Tano, my apprentice."

"Why would you hurt your apprentice like that?" Luke asked, trying to sit up, and falling back with a soft grunt. I picked him up and held him in a sitting position.

"No, never. What I mean is that she was my apprentice, when I was a Jedi."

"Oh, that makes more sense. Where are we?"

"This is my castle. You're safe now, Luke."

Luke yawned, and nodded. "Okay. Where's Leia?"

"She's not here. I'll do my best to bring her, though. We can only hope that they won't think it's a trap."

He nodded again, and crawled into my arms, resting his head against me. I held him close, and he drifted off again. I left Ahsoka to finish eating, and carried him up the stairs to a room I had prepared for him. The thought then had been that he would be a Sith, but now I was glad that he wasn't.

Finally, I heard Ahsoka climbing the stairs after us. Now that my son was aware of the situation, safe, and comfortable, I was suddenly aware of what my poor apprentice had been through. Her ribs were badly broken, possibly one of her arms as well, and there were gaping wounds in various parts of her body.

"Snips, I'm so sorry." I held out my arms to her, and she collapsed. "You must be in so much pain. All I could see was my son. I should have seen this earlier."

"It's not your fault. I understand." Her legs slid a little more, and I picked her up, as I had my son.

"It's going to be all right. I can treat this."

She nodded weakly, and I carried her down the stairs again, into a small med center. "Just relax, I'll take care of you."

Ahsoka did as she was told, and I began the procedure.

When I was done, I carried her back to my son's room, taking a blanket from a closet and making up a bed on the sofa. From our new place, I could see my son, and my apprentice. I watched Ahsoka fall asleep before returning to Luke's side.

I wanted to promise Luke that everything was going to be okay, and that he was safe. I wanted to kiss my son. I wanted to speak to Luke, a real, meaningful conversation. I wanted to really get to know my boy. But I didn't want to disturb him. When the boy awoke, there would be plenty of time for that. Hopefully many years.


End file.
